Tag: December 19, 2008

LITERATURES marginalized from the Philippine canon were the focus of the 51st Philippine PEN (Poets and Playwrights, Essayists and Novelists) annual conference held last December 5 and 6 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The congress was supported by the Varsitarian and featured UST Rector Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa, O.P., who delivered the important annual Jose Rizal Lecture.

I long to walk in cold layers of snow with my fur boots on, but it is quite impossible now. All I can see are the leafless trees of Los Angeles. I guess you can’t expect snow to fall in California.

Bows of green and red are all around and cheerful songs simply float in the air without touching my spirits. For eight years without celebrating Christmas, I have forgotten the feeling that went with the month.

I would not have said yes had he not asked.

But I had been eyeing him for months, and took to detail all of him—the blue eyes, blond hair, lightly-tanned skin. And I had cursed myself and reminded myself constantly of all that I was?black eyes, black hair, muddy skin.

And for the first time I found myself strangled with infatuation, and had not cringed when Jolina’s Puppy Love suddenly played in my head.

I won’t forget the first time I saw him.

I.

Where I was born, trees do not shed dresses for white blankets
and birds do not flock south. Instead of a seasonal crystalline,
we get solid sheets of water all year round.

I think of there, where I don’t need cover with yards of cloth
just to keep myself warm, where the sun beats on a metropolis that,
gray and hopeless as it looks, refuses to be beat.

When they heard

the monotone—

simple—bitrate sounds,

they came to

our streets at the nights

of October and November,

but seldom

in December. They swarmed

like flies to the light

and with the same

lightning speed

they took flight—

burning out

like their deflated

pockets, with enough

left for the ride

home. At midnight, they see

tall faces in the skyline

FOR MANY people, Christmas is a time not just to share, but also to indulge — and numerous parties and feasts are often occasions of sin.

But excessive and mindless eating during the holidays often leads to health problems — hypertension, heart attack, and stroke.

According to experts in food nutrition and dietetics, people can avoid overeating by having the proper mindset and attitude toward their holiday appetites.

THE HOLIDAYS mean festivities, family gatherings, gifts, and, of course, plenty of food. In just a week, an intake of extra 500 calories a day translates to an extra pound of body weight. But if equipped with these “survival” diet tips, fat-free holiday celebrations are as sweet as those mouth-watering hams served every noche buena.

Assoc. Prof. Zenaida Velasco of the College of Education shares some tips to stay healthy during the holidays:

“Even the best racehorse has to stop for oats once in awhile.” — T.J. Bower

Red as crimson was the blood that spattered abundantly from my toe following a tough fall over the ground, a perfect complement to my all-red Christmas wardrobe one humid afternoon when I was on my way to the province.

REMEMBERING the previous years of my life, I am completely convinced how different “now” is from “then.” I grew up with perhaps all the luxuries any child could ask for because my mother had a stable job. I even recall that after my morning classes, I’ll just stay in my air-conditioned room playing Sega all day while my yaya spoon feeds me with whatever food I want.

“Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” — Denis Waitley

TRUDGING with strangers through the muddy and slippery mountains seemed like an unlikely option to spend Christmas. But that just made a Christmas of mine as a worthwhile and meaningful one.